What does a grand jury actually look like?

[Poiuyt]

Does the subject sit in a chair with the jury in the jury box with a judge presiding (like Perry Mason)? Or is everyone sitting at a big conference table? I have this image of an interrogation where the subject is sitting at a small wooden table with a spotlight on him while the prosecutors are pacing back and forth peppering him with questions. What does a grand jury typically look like?

[moondust]

1. I testified once.

About 45 years ago. It was basically a big roundtable with me sitting at one end and the prosecutor standing at the other end. Jurors sat around the table taking notes.

YMMV

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

2. I think

it's like a courtroom w a judge and prosecutor, but the jurors aren't visible. Just my recollection.

[RockRaven]

3. It's like a regular jury

but much, much more elegant.

[pangaia]

4. You mean like, more grand?

[csziggy]

8. Wait - it's not bigger than a tall but smaller than a venti?

[drray23]

5. If you are not 6'2 or taller you can't be a juror in a grand jury. Nt.

[Scurrilous]

7. LOL

[Scurrilous]

6. I was subpoenaed before federal grand jury once while in college in the 70's.

Everyone was sitting in chairs in a semi-circle on one side of the room and I was on the other side with the the prosecutor. I was in and out in under five minutes. Got a check for $160.00 for my troubles.

[Princess Turandot]

9. I've served on the grand jury in Manhattan (for NY State Supreme Court cases)...

I don't how typical the experience was re: other locations. The jury room was 'stepped' college classroom style, although there were only three rows. There was a table in front of the seating where the witness sat facing us; the stenographer was off to the side. The lighting was normal: no spotlights!

However, this was back in the '90's when crime was bustling in NYC: there are probably some GJ rooms that look the Jack McCoy-Law and Order ones. There were 9 or 10 GJs running at the same time, so they may have needed to use overflow space that wasn't very fancy.

The assistant DA doing the questioning generally stood at the back of the room, behind the third row, facing the witness, so we didn't usually see their faces when they questioned witnesses. (Nor could they see our faces/reactions.) That might have just been a function of the room itself being kind of small.

Grand Jurors usually have the right to question witnesses, although how they do so seems to vary by jurisdiction. In this court, a juror with a question would tell the ADA that they had one. The ADA would then speak with them directly, to find out what it was, and decide whether to pose the question to the witness, which he or she would then do themselves.

[catrose]

10. The Constitution doesn't actually specify what a grand jury is

Just that one must be used to indict someone for a felony. So how they're done in Texas might be different than in other states. Burden of proof is different: probable cause rather than beyond a reasonable doubt. Defense does not put on a case. The prosecutor tells you the evidence & relevant law. An LEO could describe events. Lawyers joke that a prosecutor can make a grand jury indict a ham sandwich. The grand jury can subpoena records and ask to speak to witnesses, but they don't have to. Grand jury deliberations are secret. I keep rereading this; I've cut a lot. Terms are different in states: 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, or if you've got a bear of a case, until you've wrapped it up.

[jmowreader]

11. A little like this, I think